NYC's famed Carnegie Deli closed for illegal gas connection

A sign on the window of Carnegie Deli on Seventh Ave. Friday announces that it's closed for a "Con Edison Repair." (Sam Costanza/for New York Daily News)

Hold the mustard, hold the pastrami, hold everything — the world famous Carnegie Deli was shut down Friday after the city discovered an illegal gas hookup.

Building inspectors slapped a stop work order on the New York City gastronomic mecca midday as part of an ongoing sweep that started after the deadly March 26 gas explosion in the East Village.

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Investigators are looking into whether owners of the Second Ave. building that blew up and killed two people had jerry-rigged an illegal gas connection there.

Since then, investigators with the Buildings Department, the Department of Investigation, the Manhattan District Attorney and Con Edison began looking for other illegal — and potentially dangerous — hookups.

Officials discovered an illegal gas hookup in the basement at Carnegie Deli, officials said. (Sam Costanza/for New York Daily News)

The department discovered "new gas piping fittings, hangers to commercial cooking," the records state. Sources familiar with the matter said it appeared the device tampered with the meter and allowed owners to lower their bills.

Inside the shuttered restaurant, a man who identified himself as a manager declined to comment.

Building inspectors slapped a stop work order on the New York City establishment Friday. (Sam Costanza/for New York Daily News)

Samantha Van Die, 27, a sales rep who lives in the West Village, showed up hoping to treat her dad to a heaping platter of internationally renowned pastrami. Instead, she was confronted with the much less-appealing stop work order plastered on the front door.

"That's terrible," she said. "That's exactly what happened on Second Ave. They have a reputation but they don't want to pay for gas. They're cheap. We're going to Katz's."